


Bloodstream

by Baerserk



Category: Legacies (TV 2018)
Genre: Adventure, Angst, Drama, F/F, Romance, i dont even know, set after 1x06
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-17
Updated: 2018-12-26
Packaged: 2019-09-21 02:35:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 16,874
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17034881
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Baerserk/pseuds/Baerserk
Summary: Josie has to deal with the aftermath of her birthday night and just as expected, things between her and Penelope don't go quite as the latter wished. Little did Josie know that what was already bad, could get even worse.*Set after 1x06 | kinda Penelope centric | my own story about Penelope's family & background





	1. Square One

**Author's Note:**

> It's been years since I last wrote something about a TV show so...Sorry if anything is OOC, I only watched TVD and now Legacies. I have a plot that goes beyond only romance for Posie, so I hope I can make things get interesting while mixing canon with my own. Hope you enjoy!

 

Josie once thought that the pain of a heartbreak coming from an intense first love was the worst experience and feeling she ever had, in all her 15 years of life. Now, she is sure that she didn’t know any better when she concluded that. It didn’t take not even a full day after turning 16 for her to feel the most excruciating pain she had ever felt, something that she is sure that was going to change her life, forever.

 

When the woman that was their biological mother appeared out of nowhere, as if nothing happened at all, she wasn’t really thinking about consequences when she decided to approach her, to know much more about her. To see, to touch, to ask so many questions that always bothered her nights from time to time. Her excitement was over the edge, even though Lizzie wasn’t just as amused as she was. Sure, she was still upset that her mother couldn’t attend the party, but somehow, Jo’s presence made her heart get lighter.

 

Jo was such a beautiful woman, no wonder her father fell hard for her. To think she had her name after her and that they were actually a bit similar in more than one aspect, and that their connection was quickly deepening, made Josie think “Well, perhaps this won’t be that awful of a birthday”. And again, she didn’t know any better.

 

One moment she was having a great time with her biological mother, the other she was being buried alive, then she was kissing her evil ex out of nowhere and to end that hell of a night, she was being forced to siphon all the magic from her mother’s body. All those things hit hard, leaving her with a mess of mixed feelings when she fell down on her bed to sleep. She cried all night, and even though Lizzie was there to share the pain, deep down she suspected that what she was feeling was a bit worse than her twin. The image of her mother disappearing and her father crying and looking so heartbroken - something that they never saw before - was for sure going to be carved on their hearts and mind for a long long time.

 

That night was supposed to be special, a great time to remember. Now all Josie wanted to do, was to forget, forever.

 

xxx

 

Penelope sighed for the umpteenth time, looking at the ceiling of her room as if at any moment something new could appear. She wasn’t sleepy at all and somehow her cheeks were kinda hurting, she had no idea why. Perhaps because ever since she and Josie stopped kissing and bid silent goodbyes she hadn’t stopped smiling? No, of course that wasn’t the case, not at all. She was just...High. On feelings, that is. A lot happened, for sure, and she wasn’t expecting. Fighting zombies? She couldn’t imagine herself doing that not even in her dreams. Kissing Josie again? She couldn’t imagin- No, she actually could imagine that, in fact, sometimes she caught herself doing that with a very creative mind.

 

It just seemed so...Unreal. Josie’s lips were so soft and their kiss still felt like it fit so well together, like a piece of a puzzle. She missed her so much and yet she couldn’t bring herself to say it, or to make things easier for her, or at least try to be her friend more than her enemy. Of course she loved to tease Josie to death while making sure that Lizzie felt her real fury and ability of doing mean things, however, she missed those times when Josie didn’t feel uncomfortable around her, when she shared her fears and secrets without doubting that Penelope would ever go around saying it to everyone. Josie’s distrust in her now was a collateral effect, but she was positive that she could change that, at the end of her plan.

 

As Penelope hugged her pillow and bit on her long necklace while smiling like a fool, she remembered saying to MG that everything she did was for a reason. Now looking at the present time, she herself broke that idea. Their kiss wasn’t supposed to happen, it wasn’t part of the plan and she had no reasons behind if not for the the strong urge. That did no harm, though. It just made it even more special.

 

Feeling on the clouds like a silly little girl, Penelope slept like an angel, for the first time in a long time.

 

xxx

 

On the days that followed, things didn’t quite go as Penelope expected. Well, she should know better, but deep down she thought that perhaps things would change a bit for her and Josie. It wasn’t that it got worse, it’s just that nothing happened, at all. The girl was nowhere to be seen and for the rare moments that she saw her, she just wasn’t in the mood to talk or even look up to anyone but Lizzie.

 

Penelope knew when it was great time to push strings, she wasn’t that dumb, so she respected that. She couldn’t bring herself to actually forget it happened - she was sure Josie didn’t do that too - but for now, maybe it was for the best. Everyone knew how the twins were feeling, they could also see the same type of pain in doctor Saltzman’s eyes. It was a hard family time, so it was just the right thing to leave them be.

 

MG was also feeling sad and itchy to go talk to Lizzie, to offer her support, but Penelope soon stopped his attempts. She remembered that Lizzie was cancelled for that moment, and deep down, she also wanted him to respect her time. See? She wasn’t that bad. It’s just that no one knew that.

 

"Man, I still can’t believe we fought fricking zombies!" Speaking of him, he was talking non stop while both calmly ate. Penelope stole glances at the twins on the other table from time to time, as they talked to each other while looking slightly better.

 

"What a great time to remember, MG." She rolled her eyes while pointing at their food, having the unpleasant memory of the zombie’s smell and goo everywhere.

 

He wasn’t bothered at all.

 

"But really! We make a great team, P! You, me and Hope!"

 

"Hope?"

 

"Don’t try to deny it, you two bonded pretty well with your mutual hatred towards Lizzie."

 

"She did alright." Penelope couldn’t help but smile, knowing that the red haired girl wasn’t all that bad. She liked to tease her - of course, she did that to everyone - but Hope was actually pretty cool, even though she was too emo for her taste.

 

"Anyway, this school, man...It’s crazy. And to think that today is remembrance day... Like, really appropriate."

 

"It sure is, MG…" Penelope sighed, looking briefly to Josie once again. "It sure is."

 

xxx

 

Remembrance Day was never really a day that did much to the Saltzman twins routine, but ever since that night, both of them silently knew that things were changed. The fact that it all happened so close only made it become even more important.

 

"So you’re saying that you’re going to write her a letter?" Lizzie asked Josie, as both of them went out of their classroom."

 

"Yeah, I think it’s going to make me feel better."

 

"How?"  

 

"There’s a lot of things that I couldn’t ask or say to her, MG always says that these things help him so why not try?"

 

"Huh…" Lizzie looked down, seeming to be thoughtful.

 

"Maybe you should also try that."

 

"I don’t know, I think I want to just forget that night for now."

 

Josie sighed. She thought she wanted that too, until she woke up the next day and all she did was to feel even more. Even though it ended badly, it was a special night. She couldn’t do that easily.

 

Both girls walked slowly, sharing more small talk before Lizzie caught eyes of some werewolf boys talking loudly, sharing gossip just like the girls they condemned so much. Two words got her attention, even though one of them made her heart ache a bit.

 

"Raf...Girlfriend..."

 

"Josie, wait." She stopped her tracks, putting a hand on Josie’s belly so she could stop too. Lizzie approached the boys and with a bright smile, interrupted their conversation. "Hello boys, what’s with the commotion?"

 

"Oh, blondie, didn’t you see?  Your boyfriend’s dead ex-girlfriend is back!"

 

Even though Josie and Lizzie were fraternal twins, their expression made them look like one and the same.

 

"What?"

 

xxx

 

After Penelope ended her class and parted ways with her witch friends, she went out for a walk at the yard and found MG under a tree, seeming really concentrated in writing something. She went there out of curiosity, but in reality she just didn’t want to admit that he was becoming a pretty good and fun friend for her, for a change.

 

"Hey." She smiled as he looked up, putting her hand on the trunk tree to support her body as she crossed her feet. "Are you actually doing homework for a change?"

 

"As if you actually do yours, P." He gave her a side smile, turning his attention back to the paper he had in hands just to clean it from eraser’s crumbs. "It’s actually for my nana."

 

"Oh?  You’re one of them?"  

 

"Them who?"

 

"The people who writes to their dead relatives."

 

Her voice sounded a bit mockingly, which made MG roll his eyes but still keep the side smile.

 

"You really know how to be sensitive." That was her turn to smile, looking down to try and take a peek at MG’s letter. - It’s good, you should try it.

 

"I see no reason for that. They’re dead and if what people say is true and they become omnipresent, then they should already know about our feelings towards them, no use to wait for a letter once a year."

 

"It’s not about that." He looked up once again, now more curious as to why Penelope acted so cold like that. "It’s about having faith? Like, connecting to them, not forgetting them and just talking, it can give you some peace, some relief. When I talk to my grandma, I feel it’s like the times when I used to visit her and we sat at her house’s porch, she always fed me so much food and we stayed there until late night…"

 

Penelope saw MG’s eyes glint a bit while he talked, a sad longing smile on his lips.

 

"She was truly the only person that I felt I could talk to without fearing anything. So when I write these letters, to me, it’s just like another special visiting day, to wherever she may be now."

 

The brunette couldn’t suppress the small smile. That was kinda beautiful to hear. She somehow wished she could express her emotions like that.

 

"That’s why I think you should try it, P. Maybe you don’t even need to do it every year, one can already provide you great feelings, closure, who knows. Your parents would be happy, I’m sure."

 

Even though it wasn’t MG’s intention, the mention of her parents made her facade change. The soft feeling she felt while hearing his previous words just crushed and vanished. It really wasn’t just as easy as it was for him.

 

"Well, Milton...My mother died while giving birth to me and my father killed himself because he hated me for it so, I don’t see why I should bother. I don’t feel anything for them."

 

The boy was caught by surprise, even more when he saw her shrugging like it was nothing. He knew her parents were dead but didn’t know why and now, what scared him was that she actually really did mean those last words.

 

"Damn, P...I’m...Sorry."

 

"It’s ok."

 

She turned to support her back on the tree, now looking around to see if something interesting was happening. The air between them got heavy for sure, and on the moment that MG got up and said he had to go to the gym, she knew that he really didn’t **have** to.

 

xxx

 

Rafael’s dead ex-girlfriend now being alive for sure did things to the twins humour. On Lizzie’s case, it was out of pure jealousy. She didn’t actually think about the fact that the girl was back just like their mother and that it wasn’t really her. All Lizzie cared was that now her relationship with Raf could be even more difficult to develop. His words at her birthday party still lingered on her mind but everyone knew how much of a stubborn she was, just like her mother Caroline. She wasn’t going to give up on him that easily, “mark my words” as she said to Josie.

 

Now, on Josie’s case, it wasn’t that much of a jealousy thing. Her feelings for Raf could still be there ~somewhere~ in between her mess of mixed feelings, but she couldn’t bring herself to think about that. What enraged her was that again that monster who did that to her family was doing the same thing to another person, taking advantage of their pain, of their mind, and that was awful. She for sure didn’t want him to go through what she felt, she wouldn’t want that to anyone, really.

 

So when she found out about that, she went out to the garden, stomping her steps all her way to breathe some fresh air. She stopped by the beautiful types of flowers that the kids took care of, closed her eyes and took deep breaths, to calm herself down. For someone who was sweet and didn’t always feel angry - if not for Penelope, as usual - she was for sure worked up a lot on those last few days.

 

Speaking of the devil, when she slowly opened her eyes, she saw the girl who shall not be named a few steps away, looking at her while under a tall tree. Even though Josie wanted to look away, she just didn’t bother to do it. She only looked down to her feet when memories of their last kiss started to flash her mind. What a great timing, really. It didn’t take long until dreaded footsteps approached her, already warning that it was who she thought it was.

 

"What do you want?" She looked up, seeing Penelope’s **annoying** smirk all plastered on her face like always.

 

"Hello to you too, JoJo."

 

Josie rolled and closed her eyes, putting her hands on her waist and lifting her head to the sky, as she breathed deeply once again.

 

"What are you doing? Trying to siphon all the heat from the sun?"

 

Penelope’s voice had that teasing tone but it wasn’t that much of a mockery. It was more playful, giving the allusion that the girl was just like those flowers, but Josie didn’t receive it like that.

 

"I’m trying to be alone, away from annoying people like you." Josie looked at her again, clearly being in a defensive mode as if Penelope was attacking her just like any other day. If anyone not biased saw that, they would know that it wasn’t really that close of a Penelope Park usual attack.

 

"Wow Josie, I’m just trying to have a simple conversation with you. No need to bite me like this."

 

"And why are you doing that? Do you want something from me?"

 

"No? I just thought that after that kiss and all, _even though you did stated that you still hate me_ … " Her voice lowered, just now remembering that. "...I just thought that maybe our relationship wouldn’t be that bad anymore, just a bit, and I would be allowed to ask how you are."

 

Josie sighed loudly, clearly not in the mood to be dealing with this.

 

"Look Penelope, I did mean what I said. That kiss was just a thing from the moment, I felt like I wanted, I took it and that’s all. You and me, we’re still at square one, don’t mix things up."

 

Even though Josie couldn’t really see - Penelope was a hell of actress sometimes, really - those words hurt. Penelope gulped quietly, recovering herself quickly to be able to answer without letting her true feelings escape.

 

"I didn’t mix things up, Josie." She tried to smirk, but somehow it seemed more of a sad brief smile. "It’s not like I was expecting us to be dating or something like that again. Just didn’t see you coming for my neck with full armory and all. But whatever, do your thing."

 

She waved her hand nonchalantly and turned on her heel, making her way to go back to the school again. Josie was left a bit speechless, now that she had the silence to think about the way she acted. It sure was a bit stupid and rude, even more because Penelope didn’t say anything bad, but it was already done. She could think about that later, knowing Penelope, she would never take that to the stone that she called a heart.

 

xxx

 

When the night came, Josie was about to deliver her letter when Lizzie showed up, surprising her with a letter to their biological mother from herself. Josie felt proud of her sister and she was quite sure that writing those things helped them, even though that was also another shitty day for many reasons. Her father was out, grieving in his way, and some of the students were also out to pay condolences to their loved ones. It was at times like these that Josie got to notice just how much of a big place their school was.

 

The emptiness of the building gave it a eery feelling, but Josie was already used to it, so she just felt like it was her home. As she laid down to sleep after dinner, quite happy that she was back to feeling hunger again, she held the necklace Hope gave it to her and for the first time, her thoughts distanced themselves from the cycle of both her mothers, father, monsters and Penelope. She thought about how Hope always dealt with days like those, knowing what happened to her family and all. Josie was sad that she lost her biological mother again but at least she had three more people from her family.

 

Watching Lizzie snore almost soundlessly by her side, a sudden realization hit her just like a car. Hope didn’t have her parents anymore but...Penelope also didn’t. Her throat suddenly felt weird, like a knot was there. Penelope never talked much about her family but she knew that her parents were dead and she was raised by her aunt. Somehow, guilt filled Josie’s whole body. Perhaps Penelope was just trying to distract herself from thoughts about them, while talking to Josie? And she did that to her without thinking twice…

 

Josie sat on her bed, eyes now wide open while she bit her lower lip, worried about Penelope’s feelings. Who was she to lie, of course she cared about her ex, just like when they were dating. She had a heart and even though Penelope hurt her a lot, she couldn’t help but still feel like that. For a moment, she ponders the idea of getting up, maybe see if Penelope is wandering around like she did before going to sleep. Maybe she could apologize?  She should do it now, because she wouldn’t have the courage to do it later.

 

Giving one last look to her sleeping sister, Josie got up, took a thin sweater from the closet and went out in search of Penelope. If she gathered even more courage while walking, who knows she could even actually go to her room to do it. Yeah, that would be great. Josie walked through the corridors, slowly getting confident and thinking about the words she was going to say.

 

A lot of it was empty and dark, but she could still recognize some people, students entering their dorms to sleep. It took her a few minutes but Josie succeeded in finding Penelope, soon enough. She was entering the corridor to go to Penelope’s door, while the girl was going on the opposite way, perhaps for some fresh air.

 

"Hey, Penelope." Josie let out a brief coy smile as they slowly walked to each other. Even though there wasn’t much light, she could see Penelope had her chin up as always, expression a bit blank. "I wanted to-" Just as they got close enough to stop by each other, Penelope didn’t seem to get the idea of what Josie wanted.

 

To the taller girl’s surprise, Penelope bumped - quite harshly - her shoulder on hers, not even bothering to look at her direction. Josie stopped her steps and looked back to stare astonishedly at Penelope’s figure, while she kept her pace as if Josie was nothing but a bump on her road. Josie was caught so off guard that she couldn’t quite yell anything at the girl, she just watched her until Penelope went out towards the garden, just like she predicted.

 

Was she that hurt for what happened earlier? Josie looked down, surprised and also a bit hurt for what just happened, feeling even more guilty. On that moment, she decided that maybe talking to her on that day was a bad idea. She just needed now to make sure that she wouldn’t chicken out and would actually apologize to her later.

 

xxx

 

On the next day, Josie wished, expected and hoped, but she wasn’t able to meet Penelope at all. They didn’t share classes on that day, neither did Lizzie, so it was a bit hard to find her without actually looking for her. For a moment she thought that she should go to her friends to ask about her, but that would seem a bit desperate.

 

Her mind - full with scenarios and apologies - was soon invaded with other angry thoughts about how her father was out with Hope **again** , so she kinda forgot about it. It was only when she was taking a nap right before dinner was ready that she had something actually come to her, rather than bumping into it.

 

With the loud banging on their door, Josie woke up a bit dizzy as she saw Lizzie stopping her nail polishing moment so she could go get it, annoyed as hell.

 

MG.

 

"Guys, I know you hate her but…" His breath was faltering, as if he had run hard to arrive there.

 

"What?"

 

"It’s Penelope."

 

It took Josie just a few seconds to get sobered up from sleepiness after hearing that name.

 

"Penelope...She’s missing."

 


	2. Fear

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Penelope is missing. Josie isn't sure if she can deal with all the possible scenarios.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm very happy for the great response you guys gave me, I wasn't expecting that at all :) Thank you, and I hope you enjoy this chapter!

_"Penelope...She’s missing."_

 

“Is this another stupid prank Penelope made up? We have no time for this, MG.” Lizzie rolled her eyes really hard, trying to close the door on the boy’s face without further questioning.

 

Josie was already getting up before he protested, knowing that his expressions and actions were too desperate for just a prank. He was never a good actor after all.

 

“I’m serious!” His hands stopped the door from closing and he took the liberty to enter the room without actually being invited.

 

Lizzie glared at him as if he did the worst thing possible but MG seemed like he didn’t care much.

 

“Look, I promise you guys that it’s not a prank or anything. I shouldn’t even be here right now and- and…”

 

“Calm down, MG.” Josie approached him with furrowed eyebrows, only now starting to feel a bit dizzy from the sudden movement she did as she got up. “What happened?”

 

“First, I’m grounded at the dungeon, spent the whole day there. Second, Penelope missed all her classes today and-”

 

“That’s it?” Lizzie scoffed, crossing her arms while resting on one leg. “It’s not like Penelope is the best student of this school. Are you sure she’s not fucking or getting drunk and high with someone, somewhere?”

 

Those remarks did a great job in making Josie even more agitated. She gulped, her eyes going back to MG for his response.

 

“It’s the fact that she didn’t do one of those things that is worrisome.” MG let out a long sigh, now looking a bit calmer than before. “Yesterday was Sabrina’s birthday and they were supposed to sneak out and meet at the woods to celebrate but Penelope never showed up. Today, no sight of her again. Isn’t that suspicious for you?”

 

Lizzie stayed quiet and for that brief moment, MG’s words brought back to Josie the memories of the previous night, when she had a really odd encounter with the girl.

 

“I saw her last night.”

 

“You did?” MG and Lizzie’s voice came out at the same time, both looking at Josie with curiosity.

 

“We bumped into each other at the hallway, I think she was going towards the garden…”

 

“Huh? She didn’t say anything to you?”

 

Josie gulped, just then remembering how Penelope could’ve been pissed at her for her rude behaviour earlier.

 

“No...We literally bumped into each other, though. She bumped into my shoulder but didn’t say anything, just ignored it…”

 

“Rude as always, that’s not news.”

 

Josie wanted to say it out loud that this time it wasn’t really Penelope’s fault, she deserved it, but the other two didn’t give her the time to do it.

 

“I think she had a rough day, Lizzie.” MG let out while looking quite thoughtful. It took a few seconds for him to go back to reality, now exchanging looks to both of the twins. “So, are you guys going to help?”

 

Josie didn’t need to wait for that question to start doing something. While Lizzie only grumbled and snapped something at him, she went for their closet to take jackets and some tools they would need.

 

A few minutes later, Josie threw some of the stuff she gathered to MG and to Lizzie, looking all ready to go.

 

“C’mon, I think the curfew already started.” MG opened the door and peeked with his head out to see if anyone was there.

 

“Curfew? But we didn’t even have dinner yet?!” Josie felt confused for a moment but Lizzie intervened right away.

 

“You slept through dinner.”

 

“Oh great. Thanks for waking me up, Lizzie.” Josie threw a glare at Lizzie, her sister knowing damn well that Josie really liked to follow her food routine at the dot.

 

“What? You seemed really tired.” Lizzie shrugged, seeing MG getting out of the door while signaling for them.

 

“C’mon girls.”

 

Josie did the same and when both noticed that Lizzie was still standing there on the same spot, their expressions matched pretty well in a scowl.

 

“Do I really have to go? My nails are drying, I can’t-”

 

“Lizzie.”

 

Josie’s voice sounded so firm and serious while calling her that even MG looked at her, surprised. It was rare to see her soft twin sister do that - even more when it comes to her - but the blonde girl soon gave up, taking a deep breath and groaning like the a little brat.

 

“Ugh...Fine!”

 

**xxx**

 

The three of them got to sneak around successfully, with MG leading both of the twins as he was already a master at that. Everything between them was silent until they saw themselves outside of the school’s gates, not risking to get caught by anyone.

 

As soon as they were now facing the start of the woods, Lizzie hugged her body and already started bombing the questions she was preparing the whole way up until there. Josie was lost in her thoughts, but she made sure to hear everything MG had to say.

 

“Why don’t we just tell Dorian that she’s missing and let him take care of everything?”

 

“Look, if we do that I’m pretty sure he is going to call your father to plan something, and only then they will act on it. It’s probably going to take the whole night before he calls for our help or something.” MG walked into the woods as if he already knew where he should go, having Josie right behind and Lizzie by her side. “Penelope is already missing for a day, we can’t waste time”.

 

“That and the fact that you were locked in the dungeon and wasn’t supposed to be here at all. Care to explain? How did you even manage to get out?” Lizzie retorted. MG only sighed deeply to that.

 

“It’s a long story, I will tell you guys later.”

 

“Where are we going, MG?” Now it was Josie’s turn to ask.

 

“Close to the old mill. That’s where Penelope’s friends were yesterday.”

 

“Did they search the school?” Lizzie crossed her arms, closing her jacket as the wind started to hit them with a bit more of force.

 

“Yeah, at first they thought she was messing around like always but she didn’t respond to texts or calls, then they searched the school and no sight of her. They didn’t check the woods, though.”

 

Josie only hummed in response to that. While her steps followed MG’s guidance, her mind started to work again, a hundred thoughts per second.

 

What could’ve happened to Penelope? Was she just taking a break from everything? Well if that was the case, she would at least tell one of her friends. Perhaps she is there at the mill, having fun with somebody else like Lizzie suggested? If that was the case, Josie didn’t know if she actually would like to witness that...But for sure it would be the “best” situation. Maybe, just maybe, Penelope was actually at the school, laughing her ass off because she just played everyone with the best prank ever? Josie would kill her for sure, but she would rather have the usual rage inside of her than this sensation she was feeling.

 

The same lump that was in her throat the night before, when she remembered fucking things up, was now making some presence. It seemed worse though, because a lot of things now flashed her mind, over and over again. A hundred types of scenarios, all of them making Josie’s  almost empty stomach churn.

 

The night was actually pretty dark for the standard. They were walking around with flashlights but usually the moon would help a bit, until they got to the usual party place, lit by string lights, fire and all teen spirits. Going to that same location now, in this situation, felt weird and a bit terrifying. Josie was thankful that she had MG and Lizzie by her side but what about Penelope? Was she alone, scared, hurt? Josie had to gulp a lot of times after those questions, because for a moment she felt like crying.

 

After a few more minutes, MG pointed the flashlight to a direction, the sight already letting all of them down.

 

“We’re here.”

 

No signs of Penelope at all.

 

There were bottles, logs, remains of a bonfire, some food thrown over the ground, nothing out of the usual. That’s where Sabrina and her friends had their private party and everything there only showed that it did happened all right. They even looked inside of the building but nothing was out of the place. No signs of fight or blood, thankfully.

 

“Can’t you feel anything, MG?” Lizzie asked him, only now looking at Josie just to see her twin staring at the ground.  

 

“I can’t. It’s...Weird. Apart from the wind there’s like no noise, at all, not even from small animals. No unusual scent, too.” MG looked back at the girls, his face showing obvious signs of worry.

 

The blonde looked around, feeling the breeze get a bit more intense, the sounds of it giving an even more creepy aura. Lizzie was already spooked by being in the middle of the woods like this, possibly with something dangerous around, and the nature sure wasn’t helping. She took a deep breath and turned to MG once again. “Now what?”

 

“We should keep looking.”

 

“Maybe we should split up?” Josie finally looked up, her eyes a bit shiny but none of them paid attention to it.

 

“That’s a horrible idea, Josie.” Lizzie was the first to protest. “That’s how everybody dies in horror films. We are staying together.”

 

“Lizzie is right. Even though it can take more time, it’s better for us to look out for each other.”

 

Josie didn’t really feel like fighting back.

 

“Alright, c’mon, let’s search around the area.”

 

As MG went back to his tracks, passing all the way through place to keep going north, Josie closed her eyes for a bit, inhaling and exhaling the cold air. The last few days have been really harsh on her, in all aspects.

 

**xxx**

 

Nobody knew how much time they spent walking but one thing was for sure: daytime wasn’t even close. They followed in silence and even though the environment was scary, nothing really dangerous happened. From time to time they called for Penelope’s name, but the three of them eventually agreed that it just didn’t feel right, that it could somehow attract unwanted attention.

 

Even though their path was particularly “calm”, Josie’s mind was far from that, so she started to get a bit angry and frustrated with that. The feeling of being impotent was killing her and the fact that Penelope could be in real danger only made it worse. As she started to force herself to think even harder of what they could do, where they could go, an idea crossed her mind and that seemed quite perfect.

 

“Guys, I have a plan.” She abruptly stopped her steps, making MG and Lizzie turn their full attention to her. “When Landon took the knife and ran away, Hope and I did a location spell and we were able to find him. Maybe if we-”

 

“Are you really suggesting for us to do dark magic, Josette?”

 

Lizzie’s voice made it sound like it was the craziest and the worst idea she had ever heard. Josie completely ignored it.

 

“Yes? It worked, if it worked once then one more will do no harm!”

 

“You know that’s not the case!”

 

“I also don’t think it’s a good idea, Josie.”

 

The fact that even MG rejected her suggestion only made the situation  get more infuriating.

 

“Then what? We will just keep walking around in this freaking cold and creepy place without actually having a plan?”

 

“Yes, having no plan actually seems like a great plan when compared to dark magic! I warned you two, it would be a thousand times better if we went to Dorian right away but no! You have to make it harder!” Lizzie snapped at both of them, clearly already tired. “You know that I love to be the hero more than anyone else, but that doesn’t implicate circumstances like these.”

 

“Girls, calm down! We are already here, let’s just keep going and then by the dawn, if we don’t find anything, I will be the first one to go to Dorian’s place.”

 

Even though the situation was tense as heck, it was nice to have MG there. Josie knew he was also worried and frustrated, but comparing to Lizzie and herself, he was pretending to have control better, so props to that.

 

“But I agree that we need a plan. Let’s just think about more places, somewhere around...She can’t be that far away...Right?”

 

Both girls stayed quiet, Josie now closing her eyes pretty hard to force her brain to work properly. What places apart from the usual party place could Penelope go? The woods wasn’t exactly well populated.

 

It took more excruciating long minutes of silence but then the biggest hunch came to Josie’s mind, as if a light bulb turned on right above her head.

 

“I have an idea.” She even let herself have a little smile on her lips. “We need to go back to the mill.”

 

**xxx**

 

_Josie was worried. She wasn’t the type of girl that broke the rules a lot. In fact, she only did it when it was Lizzie’s idea, which in fact happened quite a lot, so there’s that. Well, almost everything in her life happened because of Lizzie, directly or indirectly. Josie didn’t mind much, sometimes she had the faint idea that if it wasn’t for her sister, her life would be much more boring since, after all, she had no problem in admitting that she wasn’t that interesting._

 

_So when Penelope woke her up one day, saying that she would kidnap her and Josie would have no saying in that, she really didn’t know what to do, or to think. Penelope wasn’t Lizzie - duh - but somehow Josie also felt like doing things with her that she wouldn’t usually do. That said something about their relationship, for sure, because when MG or someone else tried, Josie didn’t pay much attention to them._

 

_“You look like a kid right now.”_

 

_“What do you mean?” Josie glanced at her, twisting her lips to the side while having her brows a bit furrowed._

 

_All Penelope could really see - or what she loved to notice - was Josie’s doe eyes._

 

_“Like you’re a kid and I’m the mother trying to get you to the doctor.” Penelope giggled, both of them walking side by side as their feet provoked noises of dry leaves being cracked in each step._

 

_“You, being my mother?” Josie stopped being nervous for a bit so she could smile - nervously. “That’s...Weird.”_

 

_Really weird, considering that Josie had the biggest fattest crush on Penelope and lately she was having constants and vivid dreams where she ended up kissing her._

 

_“Don’t even get me started.” Penelope looked away, her smile now being reduced to just a smirk._

 

_It was Penelope’s brand. The smirk that sometimes really made Josie’s legs get weaker, no joke. Josie wouldn’t tell that to anyone of course, let alone to Penelope herself._

 

_Silence fell upon them until Penelope suddenly took Josie by the hand and pulled her to the right, going in between some tall trees until both of them got to be in front of a much more open space. Josie got really surprised to know that there was an old cabin in between all of that green but then again, in all those years, she really wasn’t much of an explorer._

 

_“It’s here.” Penelope turned to her and smiled once again, their hands entangled as if it was the most normal thing in the world._

 

_Josie really wanted that. She would really love to hold Penelope’s hands like this, whenever she wanted._

 

_“How did you get to know this place?” Josie asked, being pulled towards the entrance._

 

_“I have my secrets.” Penelope gave her a quick wink over the shoulder and climbed the stairs, going for the door._

 

_The cabin was made of wood, it clearly had signs of abandonment but Josie felt that it really wasn’t that old. When they entered the place, she got surprised by the contrast: it didn’t look like the creepy place she imagined it to be, but it sure was already an established place for the sneaky runaways from the Salvatore Boarding school._

 

_“Welcome to Highland!” Penelope’s voice sounded cheerful, her other arm gesturing as if she was the host of a tv show._

 

_“What is this place…” Josie had her mouth a bit open, as her eyes captured every little detail that surrounded her._

 

_If from the outside it seemed like a haunted old cabin, in the inside it was much more of a hideout, a really nice one. Apart from bottles and some suspicious packs of cigarettes lying on the ground, the place was nicely clean, the floor also made of wood. There were cushions around, a small table, rugs that had a big S on it and- wait, was those rugs the ones that went missing from the school’s forgotten attic?_

 

_Penelope seemed to notice Josie’s realization, because she started to laugh right away._

 

_“Yep. It’s here. You won’t tell anyone, right JoJo?”_

 

_“N-No.” She blinked quickly, trying to recompose herself._

 

_Even though she knew Penelope wasn't actually laughing **at** her, she always felt embarrassed because the girl was really good in making her blush from time to time._

 

_“Come here.” Penelope let go of her hand and went to one of the big cushions, dropping her body with all confidence in the world. “Sit.”_

 

_Josie did as she was told, hesitantly, yes, but just because she was still taking in the fact that the students had a nice hideout and she and Lizzie were never actually invited to it. It sucked big time._

 

_“Who ‘runs’ this place?” Josie quoted the word with her fingers, sitting a bit awkwardly by Penelope’s side as the girl took out some stuff from the plastic bag that she carried._

 

_“We do. I mean, there’s no owner. It’s a collaborative place...Even though it’s not for everyone.”_

 

_“Does MG and Lizzie know about this?”_

 

_“What do you think? The two biggest blabbermouths? Absolutely not. This place does no harm to anyone, it’s just for us to chill you know. If the info that the cabin is occupied arrives to your father, I bet he would come destroy this in a second.”_

 

_Josie couldn’t help but pout with Penelope’s statement._

 

_“I’m a Saltzman too, you know.”_

 

_“Oh my God, no?” Penelope suddenly stopped her actions and turned to her, dramatically. “How come you never told me, Josie? You’re a Saltzman and I just told you an ancient secret? Oh no...I’m afraid I’ll have to erase your memory now, ma’am.”_

 

_She acted so extra that Josie couldn’t even hold the pout, even though she wanted. Penelope always knew how to do that. Make her laugh._

 

_“You’re so silly.”_

 

_“I know I know, just don’t tell anyone, I have a reputation to keep.”_

 

_Josie nodded and then saw the girl continuing in her task. Penelope stole some snacks from the kitchen and being there now, Josie didn’t even felt like complaining. It was cute, almost like a picnic. Josie wondered why Penelope was doing that but she didn’t have the courage to ask._

 

_Then, both girls started to eat. Josie’s body relaxed as time went by, Penelope even said that she cleaned everything, so she shouldn’t have to worry about anything. The girl even took the time to prepare a playlist for them, as they enjoyed their free time together, eating, drinking, laughing and singing some old embarrassing songs that she would never imagine Penelope actually doing it._

 

_When all the hype started to fade just like daylight, both of them lay on the ground, listening quietly to some songs with beautiful melodies. Josie’s heart felt so full that she could actually explode, starting from the freaky amount of times her heart was beating per second._

 

_Penelope interlocked their hands again and ever since she did it, Josie thought she was asleep. They stayed a lot of minutes like that and even though Josie was aware that they should be getting ready to go back, since the sun was almost completely disappearing, she let herself be for just a bit more. Josie had her eyes closed and now she was the one that was slowly getting sleepy._

 

_Until Penelope’s voice came out of nowhere._

 

_“I really like you, JoJo.”_

 

_The voice seemed so distant that for a moment, she thought that it was just another one of those dreams she was having for quite a while. However, she felt a movement coming from her right, as if Penelope arranged her body to lay on her side._

 

_Josie could feel Penelope’s stare on her and when her mind revived once again, giving her senses back, she turned and opened her eyes. Penelope was indeed looking at her. The light inside the place wasn’t as nice as before, but she could still see and take in all of the girl’s beauty. Her chin, her lips, nose and those eyes...Josie couldn’t quite understand what those eyes were trying to tell her._

 

_She thought that she had already seen a lot of special and hidden sides from Penelope, but that was a new one. She didn’t have the flirty glint, the teasing smirk, the playful tone. It was different and that made Josie speechless, with no reaction at all. All she could do was gulp, watching as Penelope slowly leaned in to take her lips as if it was obvious to the world that they belonged to her._

 

_They did._

 

_Josie closed her eyes and when she felt Penelope’s lips on hers, the girl’s hand faintly holding her face in between her locks, she felt all of her limbs giving up on her. Once she thought it would feel like those cliche romantic books told her, about fireworks and butterflies, but Josie was now sure that they all lied. It wasn’t even close. Kissing someone like Penelope was more than that._

 

_Kissing Penelope Park was so much more than that._

 

**xxx**

 

“I can’t believe there’s a whole ass cabin out there that we never knew or got invited to! You knew this for how long, Josie?”

 

They were now going to the east way of the old mill, Lizzie once again starting to complain after whole minutes of peace. Josie shook her head to go back to reality, trying to ignore the warm feeling that memory brought to her while her sister made it obvious that she was much more preoccupied with being excluded by the other students than anything else.

 

“You two are the headmaster’s daughters, I can see why.” MG replied for Josie, which made her grateful. She was even more thankful when he decided to change subjects. “Are you sure this is the way, Josie?”

 

“I think so.” Now it was Josie’s time to lead them, even though she was admittedly having a hard time in remembering the exact steps she should take.

 

She hasn’t been there for a while and the fact that it was pretty dark wasn’t much of a help. They were already walking for almost 10 minutes after the mill and now, along with the wind noises, Josie could feel and hear her stomach growl.

 

Lizzie decided that she was too annoyed by that new information, so she didn’t stop nagging for the whole way. MG was the only one paying attention to her and that only made her humour become worse. It wasn’t until MG, who was right after Josie, suddenly stopped and made the blonde bump into him that she finally got to shut up.

 

“Wait...”

 

“Ouch! What’s wrong with you?”

 

“I…” Josie turned to him, seeing now that he had this scrunched up expression on his face. That made her become 110% alert. “I think I’m feeling something.”

 

“What?”

 

“C’mon, I’m hearing something!” He starts to go to almost the same direction Josie planned, giving a bit of time so the girls could follow him.

 

Josie’s heart started to beat faster, the wind hitting her body even stronger than before. The old suffocating feeling reappeared in her throat and this time, she couldn’t even ease it down. Could that be her? Josie was starting to feel sick again with all the possibilities playing mind games with her.

 

MG followed his senses and when he suddenly halted his steps, letting out an astonished gasp, all Josie could hear before she arrived, was Lizzie’s shrinking scream.

 

The sight made Josie’s heartbeats stop.

 

Out in the dark and the cold, Penelope’s unconscious body was found.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Any ideas of what happened to Penelope? :o  
> By the way, english is not my first language, I apologize for any mistakes.


	3. Run

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The night becomes a nightmare.

It all happened very fast. In one moment Josie was running with all her might, fearing what she was about to see. In the other, all of her limbs started to feel numb and a short but deep pain hit her chest. She called Penelope’s name one, two, three times, tears beginning to fall over her cheeks while she tried to approach her without much thinking. It was an automatic reaction and she didn’t know why but just as soon as she moved forward, she felt a hand over, preventing her body from going further. She looked to its owner and felt like screaming at him, why the hell was he doing that? Why hasn’t anyone moved to help Penelope yet?

 

Josie’s screams only came to a stop when she felt another hand holding her shoulder, trying to stop her from fighting back while a few words were repeated. She was compelled to look at the place that was being barely illuminated by Lizzie’s shaking hand and that’s when she finally understood. She realized that Penelope’s body wasn’t just unconsciously lying on the ground. Josie paid attention to Penelope’s surroundings and at that moment, she immediately wished that she didn’t. 

 

Penelope’s clothes were ripped - the upper body being the most damaged - and her skin was smeared with something dark that looked like ashes. There was no apparent blood but it was the sight of a very vicious-looking black snake resting over Penelope’s left leg that made it all seem more horrifying. Even though the thing wasn’t that big, it looked very angry with their presence so Josie didn’t even want to imagine what would’ve happened if she went for it before.

 

“What...What do we do?” She whispered to MG, her voice cracking as she glared at the snake. For some reason, she couldn’t look away.

 

“Use me for...A spell or something?” Only then she could notice how MG was frightened by the situation, the boy looking over to Lizzie to try and make her calm down too. “Lizzie, come here...Slowly.”

 

Lizzie was repeating chants of ‘Oh my God’ too many times under her breath while she looked at the scene, being the most stuck out of all of them. She hated snakes with all her heart, it was going to be a miracle if she could even move out of her place. 

 

“Lizzie!” MG hissed and as if on a charm, so did the animal. 

 

Josie gulped, trying to think of what she could do without actually inciting it to hurt Penelope in any way. Her train of thoughts didn’t last long, seeing that both of them soon came to realize that Lizzie started to approach Penelope’s body.

 

“What are you doing?” Josie let go of MG to turn to her twin sister, not believing that she was really getting close to it like that. “Lizzie stop!”

 

Lizzie kept going towards it, as if she wasn’t listening to any of their pleads. Josie noticed how Lizzie’s hand wasn’t shaking anymore and just when her sister got too close and was about to touch the animal, she and MG ran to stop her.

 

“Lizzie, no!”

 

In the moment that Lizzie was held with force, the snake let out a strong hiss and disappeared into thin air. Josie and MG looked at each other with terrified expressions, having Lizzie now slowly going back to her senses.

 

“What the fuck was that?” Lizzie quietly asked, visibly confused while getting out of their grasp. 

 

“You tell me!” MG’s voice came out loud as he stared at Lizzie, confusion all over his face.

 

Josie saw their interaction and while they talked to each other, she took a deep breath to recover, her attention going back to the girl on the ground. It only took a quick glance to notice how Penelope’s body started to tremble.

 

“Penelope!”

 

Josie knelt down, not being afraid to touch her anymore. Her hands touched Penelope’s skin and to her surprise, it wasn’t cold like she expected. It was actually burning hot, as if she was suffering from a high fever. She quickly put the girl’s head over her lap, seeing how Penelope was trembling even harder as the seconds went by.

 

“Guys, help!” She called for MG and Lizzie, her hands also shaking from the fear as she could barely see Penelope’s face because of the lack of light. 

 

MG and Lizzie went both to Penelope’s sides. Josie felt like crying more but at that moment, she felt like she couldn’t. 

 

“It’s ok, it’s ok, you’re going to be ok.” She whispered while getting closer to Penelope, her fingers running over her face in a delicate way.

 

It was just like a nightmare. The wind noises got louder and the trees started to shake with it, adding it more to the tension. 

 

“What do we do?” Lizzie looked over at MG and cried out, seeing that the boy’s flashlight was the only stable source of light in the middle of that darkness.

 

“I don’t know but we shouldn’t try to hold her because-”

 

“Just do something!” Josie screamed as she looked up to them, getting even more angry with the fact that they weren’t trying anything.

 

Lizzie was hesitant but she slowly approached Penelope, even though MG didn’t seem eager to do the same. Josie turned her attention back to the girl’s closed eyes, feeling her own tears and cries intensify just like her movements.

 

Josie wasn’t much of a coward when compared to Lizzie but all of that made her feel extremely afraid. The more she looked at Penelope, the more she feared losing her.

 

“MG? What’s wrong?” 

 

Lizzie’s worried voice got her attention again. She looked up and glanced at the boy, trying to understand what was happening. MG had his eyes closed, as if he was feeling something strong and it wasn’t that pleasant. 

 

“I...You need to go.” 

 

“What?” Lizzie answered for her, letting go of Penelope’s left arm so she could point the flashlight to MG’s direction. “What’s wrong?”

 

Just then, both girls saw MG’s face change. His eyes started to become red as black veins appeared right under.

 

“You need to go!” He screamed, getting up and away from them by a few steps. 

 

Josie felt Penelope’s body calm down a bit but before she could actually protest with the boy, she saw how MG bent down with his hands over his head as if in deep pain. At the same time, the movement of the trees got even more violent and some branches started to break near them. 

 

“Lizzie, help me!” Josie got up and tried to pull Penelope from the ground. 

 

“How are we supposed to carry her-”

 

“Siphon from me!” MG was able to let out in between his painful groans, leading Lizzie to quickly - and carefully - do as she was told.

 

After that, the blonde girl took her flashlight from the ground and  went to help Josie, putting Penelope’s body over her own shoulders. When Josie was about to approach MG to help him, she heard his most agonizing grunt yet and as he looked at her, she saw his fangs out. 

 

“Run!” 

 

That was the last thing they heard from the boy before she and Lizzie started to run deeper into the woods.

 

**xxx**

 

Josie and Lizzie were going as fast as they could, both girls being able to feel a strange presence behind them as if they were being hunted. Even though the sky wasn’t that dark anymore - that being a sign of the dawn - their surroundings gave a sense of fear, terror and rage, so it didn’t help that much. 

 

The twins ran without knowing where they were going and as if it couldn’t get worse, every time Josie looked back, she couldn’t see what was chasing them, just feel it. For a moment they felt their hearts beating in their throats, giving the sensation that whatever was out there was about to catch them but just like a sign of a powerful force, Josie’s eyes caught sight of the cabin. 

 

She took Lizzie by the hand and led her to the place, closing the door as soon as they got in. Using the known wood and Lizzie as sources, Josie casted a spell to hold whatever was outside from entering that place. Something like a protection shield. The door and the windows shook pretty hard and the girls looked at it with apprehension, hoping that the spell would be enough to contain.

 

After some more terrifying moments of loud noises coming from the outside, everything slowly started to calm down to the point where the twins could only hear their faltering, short and hectic breathing. When everything seemed apparently over, Josie turned to lean her body on the door, looking at her sister as she tried to take in a very deep breath. 

 

The panic in Lizzie’s eyes matched pretty well with hers. 

 

**xxx**

 

Penelope was now lying on a bed made of the blankets they found around, with a cushion under her head. Josie took out her own jacket to place over Penelope’s exposed bra, not wanting to put over her some old dirty sheet Lizzie gave her. The girl wasn’t trembling anymore and her body temperature strangely seemed almost back to normal, making them feel very thankful.

 

Lizzie and Josie didn’t talk much about what happened, both girls were speechless, hesitant and afraid of even starting to speak about it. They just relaxed when they saw the sunlight shining through the windows. The girls didn’t know the reason but the fact that the darkness was gone made them feel a lot safer. So much that when Lizzie volunteered to go out to get help from Dorian, Josie couldn’t even believe her ears. 

 

Her twin was being really brave and even though she feared for her and they argued about it, she was convinced to stay with Penelope, just needing to pass to Lizzie the right directions. When Josie saw her sister leave, she sighed deeply, closing her eyes as she silently asked to whoever runs the world to just protect her once again.

 

When she found herself alone with Penelope, realization hit her pretty hard. What a hell of a night. First the girl was missing and now she also couldn’t stop thinking about MG, the snake, the darkness, the cold, the “thing”. She knew then that when all of that was over, her body would pay the price.

 

Josie took some good time to look at the girl, as she sat down by her side and analyzed every tiny bit of her. It could even be amusing to see that Penelope looked like she was only sleeping, after all of that. Her hair was messy, her face and arms had some scratches and those ‘ashes’ were pretty much all over her, specially on the parts that were exposed. Still beautiful, of course. Penelope would be proud to look good even in that situation. The thought made Josie smile for a bit.

 

Watching Penelope made her heart feel at ease, for the first time. Even though she would prefer if the girl was awake, she somehow could feel that the girl now was much safer than she was before. Deep down she felt that Penelope would be ok after all and that was going to be the biggest relief. The pain Josie felt when she thought she would lose her right on the spot was too harsh. Josie remembered for a few instants and she could swear that she even felt it physically, as if someone was stabbing her chest.

 

It felt different as to when she had to siphon the power from Jo’s body. Josie didn’t know how to describe both of those sensations but she did know that she wouldn’t like to feel them, ever again. Sighing for the umpteenth time, she bit her lower lip as her fingers went for Penelope’s face, to put her hair away. 

 

“What were you doing over there…” Josie whispered to herself, caressing Penelope’s skin with the most utter care in the world, like if she did it harder she would actually hurt her. “I was so afraid…”

 

She wasn’t expecting response of course but somehow she also didn’t want one. Penelope not being aware and awake at least helped Josie to be a bit more open in her presence, for the first time in a long while.

 

“I was so afraid to lose you.” Even though her voice was low, it was clearly getting choked up. She didn’t want to cry again but being ‘alone’ now didn’t quite help with that. “When you wake up I’ll beat you up for making me go through that.” 

 

Josie let out a bitter giggle while she said it but as she had another look over the girl’s bruised body, her smile slowly disappeared. It truly hurt her. 

 

“I’m so sorry Penelope...I really am.”

 

**xxx**

 

Her insides felt like jelly. It was as if she was underwater, as if her body didn’t weight anything at all. A small dot of pain throbbed in her head but she couldn’t grasp what was causing it. Everything felt surreal and she wasn’t quite sure if she was dead and that was her hell - because of course she was going to hell - or if she was just trapped inside some very edgy nightmare, a bad trip maybe. 

 

Her throat was really dry and even if she tried to gulp it down it didn’t work, it only hurt more. It was almost as if she drank pure fire and it burn all of her, and now she had to deal with the aftermath. Did she actually drink pure alcohol or fire or something? She wasn’t that crazy, right? 

 

From a very distant place she heard voices talking over each other, not really yelling but still too loud for her tastes. They didn’t seem familiar but they also didn’t offer her any tension or danger. She had to see it with her own eyes, but how could she do that? Everything was dark and there was no one to help. 

 

The feeling started to make her anxious, so she tries. She tries over and over again to open her eyes, using all of the force her body still had to push herself harder, screaming, groaning and-

 

“Look- She is...now!” 

 

Penelope started to hear and understand that. She felt even more eager to open her eyes, ask for help, ask for anything to relieve the burning inside of her, but she just can't. So that makes her get restless.

 

“Hey, it’s ok! You’re ok now, calm down!”

 

She felt  **something** holding her but her urge was to fight back and that’s exactly what she does. She wasn’t going to let them push her down again. Even if her limbs ached more than anything, she was still finding force within her to fight whoever was there but that only lasted until another  **something** held her and she was able to hear a sweet voice calling for what’s supposed to be her name, chanting words of comfort.

 

That felt...good.

 

Penelope stopped struggling against it and when things felt lighter and easier, she was actually able to do it. She sat on wherever she was and opened her eyes but the light instantly blinded her. Some giggles of relief and the same distant voices from before filled her ears, now a lot closer. A touch still lingered on her and even though she couldn’t recognize who it was, she felt fine with it.

 

For the next few minutes, things were beginning to feel good. However, as soon as her blurry vision started to clear up, Penelope saw everything turn black all over again.

 

**xxx**

 

At the second Josie felt the warm water hit her body, she couldn’t help but let her tears fall down along with it. It gave her the perfect opportunity to do it, seeing how her limbs all seemed to give up and the persistent headache gave her some minutes of break. It was just too much to take. 

 

MG was missing and they had no idea where he was or if he was ok. Dorian gave them the biggest lecture and she couldn’t even think of what her father was going to say later, when he called them like he promised to. Lizzie was still shocked and affected by everything but she somehow managed to sleep when they arrived at the school and Penelope...Penelope was at the infirmary. Even though the girl blacked out once again after waking up, they said that she was going to be fine. Josie didn’t know if that really was going to be the truth, but she wanted to believe in it.

 

She took her time in the shower and the hot water did seem to help, succeeding in making her a bit sleepy. Once she went into the bedroom, though, she saw Lizzie sitting on her bed while hugging her knees and as they exchanged looks, both agreed that they needed a hug.

 

Lizzie reached for her and they held each other strongly and silently for a few minutes. It felt good, another sense of safety just like when she saw the daylight. When they let go of each other, Lizzie sighed and Josie soon caressed her sister’s face, to comfort her.

 

“Are you ok?”

 

“Barely.” The blonde girl gave a bitter smile, obvious signs of worry taking over her face. “MG is still missing. Dad is furious and...I really don’t know what to think about this whole situation.”

 

That was Josie’s turn to sigh.

 

“I know…”

 

“Did you see that thing? The snake? It disappeared just like that and then she started to tremble like she was possessed or something and-”

 

“What happened to you in that moment? You were just staring at the snake and I know you really hate them but then you just started to go for it…”

 

Lizzie looked away, her eyebrows furrowed as she tried to remember. 

 

“I honestly don’t know, Josie. In one second yes, I was dying of fear but in the other I was just compelled...Something made me feel like it was safe, that I should approach the thing and that it wasn’t going to hurt me.”

 

“Really?” Josie rearranged her body in the bed and put her hand on Lizzie’s leg. “You weren’t even listening to us.”

 

“It truly felt like I was hypnotized and it was calling me... That was the scariest thing I’ve ever seen, the gargoyle really has no chance with that.”

 

“Were you afraid of that statue?”

 

“You didn’t see it how I saw it!” She immediately defended herself, seeing that Josie’s tone sounded a bit amused. 

 

“Right…” Josie nodded, looking down to her lap for the next few instants. “Anyway, maybe this has to do with the knife. I think it’s related...Maybe it’s the monster of the week thingy, just like Scooby Doo.”

 

That made Lizzie laugh, her back now going back to the pillows. 

 

“Yeah but why would they go after Penelope?”

 

“That’s a good question. Maybe she can answer that herself, when she wakes up.”

 

“Yeah that is,  **if** she wakes up-”

 

“Lizzie!” Josie’s expression changed, her hand hitting her sister on the leg.

 

“What? I mean, if she wakes up soon! God, I hate her guts but that was some scary shit, ok? When she wakes up, I don’t even want to think of how she is going to feel…”

 

Hearing that, Josie could only hope that what happened on the inside wasn’t as horrific as it was on the outside. 

 

For Penelope’s sake.

 

**xxx**

 

“I’m  **so** disappointed in you two!” Alaric’s voice sounded harsher over the phone and by the expression in both the twins’ faces, it really was rare for them to hear him like this. “How could you be so reckless like this? What if something bad happened to you? Look at the situation now, girls!”

 

“Well, dad, if at least you were here you-”

 

“Don’t start with the blaming competition, Elizabeth! I’m not responsible for every little thing you two do, this is not about collateral damage! With me being there or not, I’m not quite sure if the results were going to be different and  **that’s** what scares me right now!”

 

Lizzie sobbed while looking at the ground, having Josie’s hand on her back, running in circles. The brunette was so tired that even though her tears were on the verge of falling, she didn’t do much about it.

 

“Penelope is hurt, MG is missing and…”They heard their father sigh, almost as if his voice was also going to crack. “I could’ve lost you two, just like this.” 

 

They fell into silence, only Lizzie’s cries sounding through the office.

 

“I’m going back tomorrow and I hope you two reflect on your actions and start to think that everything you do has consequences. You’re not little babies anymore.”

 

And just like that, the call ended. They never heard their father being so angry like that, he never ended a call before saying that he loved them, so that was the final punch of possibly one of the worst days of their lives.

 

**xxx**

 

The night came and just as expected, Josie tossed and turned, no signal of sleep at sight. Lizzie was gone, she was even snoring - something Josie thought it wouldn’t happen - but she could understand that, Lizzie did the her ‘therapy’ and worked on her mind. Josie couldn’t do the same because she wasn’t used to feeling like this and so, she had no idea what was capable of calming her down. 

 

A walk through the empty corridors of the school? Some late night snack? A breath of fresh air, even though her father prohibited her of doing so? The last one really seemed like a bad idea but the thought of sneaking out to the infirmary to visit Penelope also sounded pretty bad and here she was, strolling around her ways to arrive there. Well, she could live with one last awful decision. 

 

The girl didn’t know what she was expecting to see but at least she could check if Penelope was alright, before going back to bed to force or knock herself out to sleep, who knows. She took her time and her ways - already being aware of how that place worked - and before she knew, she was standing inside Penelope’s room, closing the door very carefully so no one could hear. 

 

It could be creepy for someone to watch that but in Josie’s way of thinking it really wasn’t. She was just too worried and she had too much on her mind, that was all. The place wasn’t totally dark - that being the reason why she actually entered in the first place - and it had a cool temperature. 

 

Penelope was cleaned up, dressed in a hospital-like gown and she was lying with her head turned to the right, the lighting from the outside illuminating through the curtains. Her breathing was calm and she again looked as if she was peacefully sleeping, with no other worries in the world. That view made Josie let out a small smile, urging her to talk or to just caress Penelope’s face one more time.

 

For the first moment after their last kiss, she actually went for it, to do what she truly wanted. Her hand faintly touched Penelope’s cheeks and so, she leaned in to give her a brief kiss on the forehead. Once done, Josie got up and turned away, feeling a lot lighter than before. For some reason she felt that everything could actually be alright, after all that storm. She was almost out of the room when she saw a light coming from behind her, along with a very familiar voice.

 

“Hey!” 

 

Josie froze on the spot, closing her eyes as she thought how screwed she was that Penelope had to wake up just in that instant. Not that she wasn’t extremely happy that Penelope was now awake but really, right after she gave her a little kiss, in a moment of weakness? Unfair, really. 

 

Josie turned her body to face Penelope, already preparing something to say to excuse herself, but as if it was a prank from the universe, she soon found out that she didn’t have to.

 

“Who are you?” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh boy, what the heck happened to Penelope haha 
> 
> I'm not quite happy with this chapter, it was hard to write...The next one will be better. 
> 
> Thank you for all the comments and the support, it really means a LOT to me ♥


	4. Trust

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Penelope discovers her new reality. Josie becomes a night intruder.

_“Who are you?”_

 

The question took Josie by surprise but it was the expression in Penelope’s sleepy face that actually got to her. She looked genuinely confused, eyebrows furrowed, narrowed eyes and a hand over the lamp button on her bedside table. Josie approached a bit just to make sure that the girl was indeed seeing her face properly, so she could ask again.

 

“You really don’t know who I am?” Her voice came out hesitant, everything within her wishing that now Penelope’s answer was going to be different.

 

It wasn’t.

 

“Should I?” Penelope blinked hard to make the sleepiness go away. “You’re not a nurse, are you?”

 

Josie gulped, feeling a strange reaction to that. She really couldn’t be at peace for more than 24 hours, could she? The brunette also mimicked Penelope’s expression and seeing that she stood there astonished, not exactly knowing what to say, Penelope decided to insist.

 

“Seriously, you’re creeping me out, who are you? Are you allowed to-”

 

Her words were soon interrupted by Josie, seeing how the girl waved her hands, turned back and left without saying any further words.

 

“...Be here...”

 

Penelope was left talking to herself, eyes still glued at the door while not really knowing what the hell just happened. Should she be scared of that? Did someone just try to kill her in her sleep? That for sure took out all of the sleepiness that she had in her but at least, she wasn’t the only one not to sleep through the night. As soon as Josie got back to her bed, the toss and turn only got worse as a thousand things worked on her mind.

 

**xxx**

 

“You look horrible.” Lizzie stated in a matter-of-factly way, walking by Josie’s side while she took in every detail of her sisters face. Josie’s dark circles couldn’t even be covered up with concealer.

 

“Oh, thanks.” Josie pressed her lips together, sighing and nodding to that. It wasn’t like she didn’t know that, because she actually felt it on her body. To wake up early when you actually didn’t even get to sleep much, well, it was expected.

 

“Did you get any sleep?”

 

“Nope.”

 

“Still thinking about those things?” Lizzie looked away, paying attention to their surroundings as they kept walking towards the entrance of the school.

 

“Kind of.” Josie only shrugged, not really knowing how to say to Lizzie that she went to Penelope’s room late night without inciting the girl to bitch about it.

 

“Can you stop with the monosyllabic answers? I really hate it when you do that.”

 

“Sorry.”

 

Lizzie stopped her steps and turned to Josie, making her notice what she did right away.

 

“I mean, sorry, I’m just really really sleepy. I guess I can’t even think properly which words to say.”

 

“Ok then.”

 

The blonde went back to her path and so did Josie. Silence filled their walk until they arrived, both girls being prepared to see their father again. They knew he was almost getting there, so it was a mutual agreement that they should welcome him with puppy eyes and maybe some cute smiles so he wouldn’t be that angry anymore. It usually worked - even after they stopped being kids - so it wouldn’t hurt to give it a shot.

 

While they waited, from a great distance, their eyes caught sight of Rafael standing by the gates, also waiting for something. Lizzie sighed loudly as she looked down to her feet and even though Josie was pretty overwhelmed with her own feelings, she was still the selfless twin that loved her sister too much not to worry and ask about her well being.

 

“Are you still angry at him?” Josie kept her stare at the boy, noticing then that Lizzie went back to doing the same after such question.

 

“Not angry, not anymore.”

 

Now it was Josie’s turn to sigh. That situation involving herself, Lizzie and Raf - even though Lizzie didn’t even know about it - was recent, so she truly didn’t know what she actually felt about it. She kissed Raf and yes, it was for “proper” reasons, but she thought she really was starting to crush on him so there’s that. Later,  Lizzie had sex with Raf and she didn’t know if it had a motive to it but well, she didn’t really want to know. Then, before her birthday party, Penelope was sweet to her, helped saving her **and** gave her a kiss that felt so...right, for all the wrong reasons. All of that was still fresh and complicated but here she was, wishing that her problem right now would just be for her to figure out her love life. It would be so much more simple.

 

Being lost in her thoughts, she didn’t notice that Lizzie was still talking about the Rafael situation, so she was glad that her sister suddenly stopped when the black car arrived. At least she wouldn’t have to say or answer anything without knowing what was said.

 

The girls started to walk towards the car and while they did it, they saw Alaric, Hope and Landon getting out, Rafael going straight to the human boy to give him the strongest hug he could. Hope had a somewhat happy side smile on her face, while their dad looked like...crap. He seemed even more tired than all of them combined, but they could still know that he was a bit content of having the boy there.

 

All the students stopped to watch the scene, curious about what was happening, and the twins weren’t different. They really would love not to be excluded from all the things that happened with their father and that school but oh well, maybe that was too much to ask. As they approached Alaric, he gave them a glare but it only lasted for a few seconds. He gave up as soon as they did **the** face, and that proved how they still had it - or how Alaric was too tired not to just love them for breathing.

 

He hugged them even stronger than what Rafael’s hug looked like, sighing deeply while having them in both his arms. They stayed like that for a moment, in silence, and the girls could sense that he really wasn’t ok. Perhaps he was just tired from all of that, so they knew that they couldn’t blame him.

 

“We are really sorry, dad.” They took turns to apologize, trying to make the situation lighter, but he really didn’t seem to care for the moment.

 

Alaric looked like he was just happy to have them in his arms again.

 

“I love you, I hope you’ll never forget that.”

 

“We love you too, dad.” Lizzie was the first to answer, having Josie following her right behind.

 

He sighed a few more times before he let go of them, looking at their faces up close.

 

“Now that I expressed all my infinite love, I need to go rest for a bit before the storm comes. You two, attend classes and we will talk later.”

 

“Talk? But didn’t you already-”

 

“Elizabeth.” Lizzie instantly stopped. She didn’t want another lecture but maybe they deserved it. “I will let you know. Now go.”

 

The twins nodded in agreement and saw how their father left to enter the school. They exchanged glances and soon got to look directly into Hope’s eyes, the older girl watching them with an unknown expression while Landon and Rafael enthusiastically talked to each other. Josie was the only one to acknowledge her presence, as she gave her a small smile, but before Lizzie started with the bitching, she took her by the arm so they could head to the classes.

 

**xxx**

 

Alaric barely rested like he told everyone he would. He managed to spend some time alone for 3 hours at most and then after a nap that felt very short in the end, he decided to go back to the office to have some serious talk with Dorian. He was the only one that knew a lot about the Landon situation and now, he also needed to handle the MG/Penelope situation. He was dealing with students from his beloved school, so it was better to put himself in the tracks and work harder to solve it before things got complicated with their families. In times like these, he thanked Dorian with all his heart.

 

“...I’ve contacted some hunters that we know. They are in the city now, looking for clues about MG.” Dorian sighed, sitting on the chair that was in front of Alaric’s desk. “It was a mess, Ric, I’ll tell you that.”

 

Alaric sighed along, not wanting to imagine the whole thing again.

 

“What about Landon? You didn’t tell me what happened in New Orleans.”

 

“Another mess, I’ll tell you that.” Alaric let out a humourless chuckle, putting a hand under his chin. “To make things short, Landon was there to discover about his past, his family... And as you know, after all that knife fiasco with Hope, one of Malivore’s ‘lock’ was broken and guess what...I think Landon has a connection to that.”

 

“How so?”

 

“Landon was being followed by some people that tried to kill him, humans as far as I can tell. Then we discovered that he is also being chased by people who apparently wants to protect him because he ‘have what they want’. So we have two different groups with different missions, connected to the boy who started it all after stealing a very powerful but dormant knife without any apparent reason... I believe him when he says that he doesn’t know what they want but I’m pretty sure something about his life must explain this.”

 

“Did he discover anything about his past?”

 

“Nothing relevant. All I know now is that the boy should stay here, even though it’s still dangerous to him and to us. We need to find out more, so we can stop whatever is happening.”

 

“Well I guess you’re right. It’s better to keep him close than anywhere else, just like the knife.”

 

“Yeah...Just like the knife…”

 

They stayed in silence for some moments, until Alaric’s mind went back to their current situation at the school.

 

“What about Penelope Park?”

 

“Are you ready for more bad news?”

 

“After you just told me that our missing vampire had just started feeding from humans? Shoot me.”

 

“Apparently, Penelope lost her memory.”

 

That made Alaric actually laugh - out of pure despair.

 

“And here I thought it couldn’t get worse.”

 

“It always can Ric. We are already trying to contact her aunt but still no response. I asked for our doctor partners to do a check up on her, see if anything is really out of the place. She should be available by the end of the afternoon.”

 

“I still can’t quite understand this. A black snake that hypnotizes people? I mean-”

 

“We had dragons, a gargoyle and a necromancer not too long ago, is it really hard for you to imagine this now?”

 

“Touché.”

 

“All I know is that we need to make sure that she isn’t dangerous too. I made a warning to the students to not go into the woods for the next days for safety reasons but of course, I didn’t give any explanation because we also don’t have one.”

 

“Thanks Dorian, I’ll talk to the girls later, see if I can have any more detail about this...Do you have any good news, though? I would really appreciate one.”

 

Dorian laughed at that, seeing Alaric’s quite pleading expression.

 

“Well, your twins aren’t being loud, for once?”

 

Alaric knew that his good friend was just trying to humour him but he was actually aware of the truth. His beloved twins would never not be loud, not in a situation like that.

 

“For now, you mean.”

 

The sound of laughter filled the office, as both of them agreed with that comment.

 

“Definitely for now.”

 

**xxx**

 

“Man, I’m so happy that you are here now.” Rafael hit Landon on the back, making the boy gasp and laugh in response.

 

“Me too but please, go softer on me.” His painful expression said that he was still sore from whatever happened in New Orleans, so that made Rafael chuckle.

 

“My bad. It’s just that it’s really good to have you here, like it should’ve been from the start.” Rafael couldn’t help but glare at the girl in front of them, not trying to be subtle at all.

 

“Nice one, wolf boy.” Hope rolled her eyes, already regretting to be there, sitting with them. She wasn’t much of a social person and even though she was slowly - but not admittedly - trying to change that, it was still hard.

 

“Give her a break.” Landon smiled to Rafael and then looked at Hope, as if reassuring her that he got her back even though he knew she didn’t need that.

 

Hope just gave him a brief smile and went back to eating, looking away just in time for her eyes to catch the Saltzman twins sitting a few tables from them. She heard Rafael and Landon talking again but this time she didn’t do much effort to pay attention. Alaric told her a few things about what happened at the school, but she still had plans to discover more details about it. If the man wasn’t going to let her know, well, she had her ways and the twins - the witnesses, basically - were pretty much a great start.

 

The girl watched as the twins were eating, talking to each other while being very expressive in their actions. Well, Lizzie was. Josie just listened like always. Both looked like really tired, which was already a piece of information to Hope.

 

It was a little strange to think that 2 out of 3 from her so called Avengers Squad were into trouble and up until now, she still felt guilty about what happened during remembrance day, even more for pulling MG into that. The damage was already done but Hope was known for being too much of a thinker sometimes.

 

When she saw that the sisters were apparently done with their food, she decided to go to them, to do what she had in mind. Landon and Rafael looked up to her with confused expressions since she didn’t say what she was going to do, but they decided not to follow.

 

Hope arrived in the middle of a heated rant about Rafael, coming from Lizzie’s part. Hope didn’t know much about Josie, but she did know - and everyone who looked actually could notice - how the girl was far from paying attention to it. She was the one that looked the most exhausted and her mind seemed to be pretty far away from that place. Lizzie only stopped when she was the first one to take notice of Hope’s presence, taking Josie out of that place so she could also look up to her.

 

“What do you want, Mikaelson?” Lizzie crossed her arms, making it obvious that it was possible that she hated Hope even more after what happened.

 

“Do you guys have anything new about Penelope or MG?”

 

“Oh of course.” Lizzie rolled her eyes, looking at Josie. “Of course she already knows about that too.”

 

Josie sighed, turning her attention back to Hope just to shrug. “MG is still missing, Penelope is…” She stopped herself, seeming to think very carefully of what she was going to say.

 

At first Hope thought Josie was just sad about Penelope - she had a hunch that the girl still really liked her - but then, she saw Josie gulping and looking nervous, which made her believe there was something more.

 

“Penelope is fine, I guess.” Lizzie answered for her sister, not seeming to notice the same thing Hope did. “Anything else, detective Mikaelson?”

 

Hope took in a deep breath and while looking at Lizzie, let out a pretty obvious fake smile.

 

“Nothing else, Lizzie. Thank you.”

 

As soon as Hope started to go back to the table, she was able to see and hear as Emma approached the twins with her always warm and pretty smile.

 

“Hello girls, your father is now waiting for you.”

 

Hope saw as Lizzie and Josie exchanged looks but it didn’t take long for them to get up and start to walk pretty eagerly towards the exit.

 

**xxx**

 

Once again, Josie found herself crying in a span of 2 days. This time though, it wasn’t out of fear or actual sadness. She still had a mixture of feelings, but to feel her father’s hug and to hear his words now, it just felt actually comforting.

 

Alaric asked them to tell him everything that happened and when it ended, they could really understand that what they did was very dangerous and that something worse could’ve happened. They didn’t blame their father for being angry or anything, which was quite mature from them, for a start. There, as they hugged again and had a heartfelt conversation and made promises that it would never happen again, they felt protected and loved.

 

When things calmed down, they could even see how their father’s countenance also changed, even though he still looked pretty tired.

 

“Well...You girls can go now, I have some more work to do.”

 

Lizzie nodded and was already ready to go out, but Josie stopped her from pulling her arm. The brunette said she was going to just ask something to him and to her surprise, Lizzie didn’t pry, leaving after letting her know she was going to their room.

 

Alaric sat again on his chair and when the door closed, he saw Josie approaching his desk. “What’s wrong?”

 

“Dad...How Penelope is really doing?” Her voice came out in a low tone, but she was pretty sure her dad understood it perfectly.

 

She saw how he had his mouth open, as if he was ready to say something right away but didn’t. It was obvious that he had something to tell but wasn’t finding any words, which immediately made Josie get even more anxious.

 

“I-I already told you, she is stable, awake, spent the day doing some exams and…

 

“And…?” She arched her eyebrows, leaning on his desk.

 

Alaric sighed deeply, his hand going through his hair as he seemed to give up on what he was going to say.

 

“Well I was planning to tell you two later but...Listen baby…”He leaned forward, taking Josie’s hand from the desk to hold it. “Penelope she...It seems she lost her memory.”

 

Even though Josie already knew that, it was still pretty hard to take that information, now being spoken like that, out loud. She took in a shaky breath, biting on her lower lip as she tried to contain her feelings from acting up.

 

“...Everything?”

 

Josie could see in her father’s eyes that he looked worried about Penelope’s situation, but she also could see how he was also worried about her, about how she was going to take that new information. It was pretty sweet, considering that he started to secretly dislike the girl a bit after he found her crying from having her heart broken.

 

“Apparently not everything. I’m supposed to go there now to do some other tests. Don’t worry too much now, ok? Things are going to fine, I’m sure.”

 

“It’s hard not to, dad.” She didn’t notice but soon another tear rolled over her cheek.

 

Alaric nodded in comprehension, getting up so he could hold Josie’s face while his fingers cleaned up those tears.

 

“Trust me, things are going to be fine. I promise to tell you everything, ok?”

 

Josie sighed but decided not to respond to that. She didn’t really want to be told things, she wanted to be there, to talk to Penelope. Who knows Penelope would eventually recognize her, or recognize some of their stories? She could actually be of some help.

 

“Can I go there with you?”

 

His expression changed.

 

“I knew you were going to ask that but Josie...You have to understand, we still don’t know what happened and-”  


“Please, dad!” She leaned away from his touch. “Maybe I could be some kind of help!”

 

“She could be dangerous right now, Josie! You will have plenty of time to do that but first let me make sure that she isn’t going to hurt anyone in this school!”

 

“Dad, please!” More tears fell down and this time, Alaric just watched. “Please...I just need to...See her.”

 

Seeing his daughter cry like that while looking even more heartbroken did have some effects on Alaric’s already drained mind.

 

“Fine…” He sighed deeply. “I’ll let you see her.”

 

**xxx**

 

When Josie heard her father’s response she didn’t quite know that it was going to be that literally. Alaric allowed her to see Penelope, but that was just it. See. While he and Dorian was going to enter Penelope’s room to talk to her, Josie was only able to watch everything from the window, through the curtains. She managed to do a spell so she could hear them, but it still felt like her father was joking with her. The girl decided not to whine too much but of course she wasn’t going to leave it at that.

 

Penelope sat as soon as she saw both men appearing in her room, having Dorian as the only familiar face. She had her hair tied up and also looked quite tired, but a lot more healthier than before. She heard their explanation of how the test worked and soon agreed to do it, not really fearing anything but being quite amused by it.

 

“Huh, a portable lie detector. Nice.” She smiled, seeing the other man now sitting beside her with a sphere in hand.

 

Alaric prepared to start with the questioning with a very serious expression. Even though Penelope lost her memory, she seemed to be dealing with it pretty well and that was already something suspicious to him.

 

“So, let’s start. Do you know who I am?”

 

“No, I don’t.”

 

Blue. True.

 

“Please tell us your name.”

 

“I’m Penelope Park.”

 

“What you are?”

 

“What do you mean?” Penelope furrowed her eyebrows, amused.

 

“Species.”

 

“Human, of course!”

 

Her tone was too loud and although a bit convincing, as he looked up, he saw how she looked a bit anxious.

 

Red. False.

 

“You can tell him, Penelope. It’s safe.” Dorian reassured her.

 

Penelope was surprised to see that the color red from the sphere actually pointed out her lie. She took her time and even though she still felt insecure about it, after a sigh, she decided to tell the truth.

 

“I’m a...Witch.”

 

Blue.

 

“That’s good.” Alaric warmed up to her, to encourage her to keep telling the truth. “Do you know where you are?”

 

“Apparently I’m in a school, sort of. Did you already get to contact my aunt?”

 

“We will get there, just answer for now.”

 

Penelope slowly nodded. She was already really tired of being in the dark like that.

 

“Please tell me the last thing you remember.”

 

“Well…”She took a deep breath, looking around the room before gathering up all her thoughts. “I was out I think. I went to a party, I remember making out with some random girl…I also remember drinking, a lot. She kept giving me drinks...Then I think I passed out, hit my head and woke up here...Wait, did the party happen here? My aunt is going to kill me!

 

The sphere lit up in blue and well, that explained Penelope’s oddly calm behaviour. She didn’t know she actually lost her memory, it was as if she just drank too much and woke up with a horrible hangover. While Alaric and Dorian didn’t know how to take that new information, if it was something positive or pretty bad, Josie felt hopeless. Penelope really forgot everything about their story. She forgot the whole year and a half she spent at the school, she forgot all of her lessons, parties...She forgot about her. It was like Penelope never got into the school at all.

 

It really hurt.

 

By the end of que questioning, Dorian and Alaric looked at each other and as a clueless Penelope watched that, Josie knew that the girl was soon about to receive some very bad and shocking news. If she thought it was painful for her to know that her first love didn’t remember anything about her, she couldn’t quite imagine how hard it was for Penelope to know that she was in a strange place that once was her second home, that she was facing the men that once were men of her trust and that she had all of those friends worried about her that now were just strangers.

 

Josie rarely saw Penelope crying - if she counted right, she saw it only under 2 circumstances - but now, as she witnessed the girl’s despair, her anger and denial in between overflowing tears, all she wished was that she could hug her and tell that they would figure everything out. That it was temporary, that they would be fine. Except that she couldn’t hug her and also, unfortunately, wasn’t even sure of that herself.

 

**xxx**

 

When the night came, out of stubbornness again, Josie found herself standing outside of Penelope’s room. The girl was awake, the light from the bedside table was on, and she was looking at the TV on the wall, even though her mind seemed far away. Josie stood there for a few moments, asking herself if she should knock or just leave her be, but then something unexpected happened.

 

Penelope seemed like she felt Josie’s presence, because after what seemed like a long sigh, her head turned to the window, their eyes meeting each other even if the windows blinds made it harder. Josie felt a shiver down her spine, not because Penelope’s stare was in any way scary, but because it looked so intense that she just didn’t know how to look away.

 

Both girls exchanged glances for a few more moments. Josie gulped every now and then, feeling strangely nervous, but just as she decided to give up, to go back to her bed, Penelope’s head motioned for her. As if asking her to go in. She understood that and even though she previously decided to go back, she couldn’t run away again.

 

Josie quietly opened her door, feeling anxious and hesitant as to what was going to happen. Penelope waited until the girl had closed her door to say something.

 

“Well, if it isn’t my night intruder.”

 

Her voice sounded weak but Josie could get the very faint hint of teasing in it. She let out a side smile, feeling a bit comfortable to give a few steps towards her. Penelope’s eyes were puffy, as if she had been crying for some good hours.

 

“I’m sorry, I’m not a weirdo or something, I swear.”

 

Penelope nodded slowly, also silently giving Josie the idea that she wasn’t annoyed or bothered by her presence.

 

“I’m sorry that I’m not as good looking as yesterday.” Penelope scoffed at herself, having Josie now closer than before. “It’s been a rough day.”

 

Josie’s smile got a bit bigger.

 

“Don’t worry, you’re still pretty.” The fact that Josie didn’t have to actually ‘hate’ Penelope was a bit freeing. Penelope smiled to that, as she stopped a few steps away from the girl’s bed. “It must be pretty hard for you.”

 

_I know it is for me._

 

“Hard is an understatement…”Penelope sighed, rearranging her body on the bed so she could look properly at Josie. “Who are you? Can you tell me now?”  


The girl looked to the ground, thinking about what she should answer. Penelope noticed that.

 

“Were we friends?”

 

“...You could say that.” Josie’s attention went back to her. “I’m Josie.”

 

Meeting Penelope’s eyes, now much closer, felt familiar but also odd. Just like before, it left her feeling pretty small under the stare. Silence engulfed them, until Penelope was the first one to break it.

 

“Is this place really safe? Should I fear Alaric, Dorian…?”

 

Josie almost giggled at the mention of her father. Penelope once should’ve been scared of her father, when she told him that the girl dumped her and broke her heart, but even then he wasn’t 1% dangerous. She wish she could tell her that now.

 

“You can trust them...This is a safe place, I promise.” Josie tried to reassure her.

 

Penelope looked away, this time being her turn to think about her words. Josie stood there, willing to answer _almost_ everything she had to ask. It took some more moments before the girl’s sad but also beautiful eyes made visual contact with her again.

 

“And you, Josie? Can I trust you?”

 

The question took Josie off guard but it was Penelope’s very fragile voice that changed things, that made her **feel** things. If for a moment before entering the place Josie wondered why the hell was she there again, breaking rules and at the risk of getting caught, now she felt secure.

 

As they exchanged silent looks and questions, Josie decided to forget a bit about their difficult relationship, promising herself she would help Penelope in any way that she could.

 

“Yes, you can.”

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Christmas, guys!  
> Longer chapter, some Posie moments... hehe :)  
> I hope you enjoyed this chapter and once again (I'll tell this every chapter lol) I'm very grateful for all the support, your comments and all leave me smiling like a fool ❤︎


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